A model has been taken into custody after the death of his husband, who was found with multiple stab wounds in his Harlem apartment on July 31. 

Donald Zieben-Hood, 40, was arrested and charged with burglary, aggravated criminal contempt, criminal contempt in the first degree, and possession of a weapon on July 31. He remains in custody at Rikers Island without bail, and is due to appear in court on September 12.

The model’s arrest took place hours after he called 911 to report that he found his estranged husband, Jacob Zieben-Hood, 34, dead in his Harlem apartment around 4 a.m. on July 31, NBC New York reported. Responding officers located Jacob’s body in the bathroom, slumped over the toilet. 

A cause of death is pending an autopsy, but charging documents cited by NBC News state that Jacob, a personal trainer from Texas, had a large gash to his head and several stab wounds to the back of his leg. Prosecutors are investigating the death as a homicide.

In the wake of Jacob’s death, friends are speaking out about the concerns they had for Jacob, whom they said withdrew from them after he started dating Donald. “I had no contact with him, and I just wanted him to be happy, and that’s all I really cared about. And I was hoping that he was,” Jacob’s friend, Jacob Paulson, told NBC News.

Jacob called his dad for help

In the moments before Jacob’s death, the 34-year-old called his father from inside the bathroom, claiming that Donald was at the apartment and preventing him from leaving the apartment, according to NBC News, citing the criminal complaint. The father told officials he could hear Donald yelling insults at his son in the background of the call.

Donald would later call 911 to report the discovery of Jacob’s dead body. Responding officers found Donald sitting on the couch with injuries, including a black eye, cuts, and bite marks, which Donald said Jacob inflicted on him, according to NBC News. 

Prosecutors allege in court documents that July 31 wasn’t the first time that Donald has been accused of threatening Jacob with a knife and verbally assaulting him. In June, Donald was arrested and charged with criminal contempt and menacing after an incident in which he allegedly pointed a knife at Jacob and said, “I will attack you.” 

Jacob Zieben-Hood had a protective order

Donald had nine domestic incident reports filed against him since 2022. One incident that took place resulted in New York County Criminal Court issuing a protective order in November of 2024 that prohibited communication between him and Jacob, and ordered him to stay away from Jacob, NBC News reported.

That order was violated in February 2025, when Jacob was allegedly attacked by Donald, who was arrested and charged on several counts, including strangulation. Donald pleaded not guilty to the charges and the case is still pending. 

A second protective order was issued by the criminal court in April.

Friends grew concerned about Jacob’s relationship around 2015, when Donald and Jacob started dating, particularly after he began avoiding their calls and turning down invites to hang out. Jacob’s friend, Jonathan Starkey, told NBC News that they felt “Donald was a little possessive and jealous and kind of restricted who [Jacob] was in touch with.”

One friend, Joshua Baker, was so concerned that he reached out to Jacob on Facebook, only to receive a reply from Donald. Screenshots of the conversations that were reviewed by NBC News show that Donald said Jacob was doing “well” but that he had decided to “break away from his past, which unfortunately included his closest friends, in order to move forward with a healthy life.”

The friends kept tabs on Jacob and Donald through their social media accounts, which depicted the couple traveling and, seemingly, enjoying marriage. 

Now, Jacob’s friends are in mourning. “I wish I had done more, but, in hindsight, what would you do?” Marti G. Cummings, another one of Jacob’s friends, told the news outlet.